what I have to share existing conflict
with many popularly held beliefs of
faith and justice my heart beats for
justice and equality for the value and
dignity of all people regardless of
nationality age gender sexual
orientation or religious belief and it
is because of this conviction that I
choose to identify myself as a feminist
unapologetically I didn’t always
associate myself with feminism and a lot
of people asked me why don’t I just call
myself a humanist and although I will
always stand for all people I choose to
say feminist in the same way that we
choose to say black lives matter because
there are some people within our society
that face disproportionate rates of
oppression and so we choose to use our
influence to stand with them to make
things better now for me this isn’t a
political statement
although sometimes it pushes me into the
realm of politics or directs the
lifestyle choices that I make on a daily
basis and just to be clear being a
feminist does not mean that I wish to
push down or talk poorly of men in fact
it is just the opposite I work for the
Equality and the unity of all people on
the very basis of their human dignity
nothing more nothing less
now people come to an understanding and
a self-identification of feminism
through many different journeys and all
different belief systems for me it was
Jesus that made me a feminist
and I understand that this might be
surprising to some so please let me
explain from a very young age I was
raised in a home that seeks to follow
Jesus but in my adolescence I was very
deeply hurt by local leaders within our
local church and this experience which
hit very close to home set me on a
course of evaluating what I truly
believed and why I researched many
different religions and many different
philosophies but in the end I found
myself right back where I began with
Jesus but this time I was encountering a
side of Jesus that I had never seen
before and I was absolutely fascinated
with what I found I found that there are
many things within his life that were
extremely culturally relevant today
being born to an uneducated adolescent
mother of a racially oppressed people
group throughout his life he
consistently empowered and uplifted the
voices of women at times even taking
personal Direction under the leadership
of women which was completely
countercultural for a man to do at the
time he educated women alongside and as
equals to men placing them in positions
of leadership within his work
interestingly in one historical document
it is actually a woman who first
identifies Jesus as Messiah and after
Jesus is crucified it is two women whom
he reveals himself first and asked them
to spread the good news of his
resurrection
but his radical nature didn’t end then
it wasn’t directed solely towards the
liberation of women but for all people
he fed the hungry healed the sick valued
those with disabilities and he condemned
a materialistic nature that worships
money and wealth in
I often wonder in light of the current
refugee crisis what would Jesus say or
would he side with a specific political
party questions that I asked myself what
I do know is that he consistently
offended the value of those who are most
vulnerable in our societies the widow
the orphan the immigrant the refugee
among us making clear the justice and
right living was at the core of his
message and he had no problem calling
out the religious hypocrisy of the day
this hierarchy that would pick and
choose who was worthy and who was not
instead everyone was given a seat at the
table everyone has value everyone had a
place to belong I came to the conclusion
that Jesus is for justice of all people
and was actually one of the originators
of the women’s liberation movement and
while the early church lived this out so
beautifully the next 2,000 years of
church tradition unfortunately did not
follow and I honestly don’t know where
in history this shift took place but
even today there are some churches and
some individuals that are phenomenal at
lifting up women’s voices and putting
women in positions of leadership and
there are that some that are just not
there yet and as a woman with roots in
the church it is this tension that I’ve
personally struggled with for many years
on many occasions I have been overlooked
disregarded or
completely excluded on the very basis
that I am a woman and according to some
not to be included among the ranks of my
male peers on one occasion I’ll always
remember my dad who was also speaker was
asked if he had a problem with me being
invited to speak at big arenas as a
woman when he was not and if I’m honest
it breaks my heart a little bit every
time I see a woman held back from
pursuing the dreams that God has placed
on her heart
I can’t believe in a faith that treats
me as a second-class citizen placing
limitations of stained glass ceilings
upon half of humanity holding us back
based on gender it doesn’t make sense
with what I know of Jesus and so again I
took a leap I dove into the history of
the Scriptures hoping that I would find
what I believe in my heart to be true
the Equality of all people if we go back
to the beginning and we look at the
history of the scriptures we look at
Genesis 2:8 right in the very beginning
when God creates Eve from Adam we see
that the word used there is as air
cuñado
meaning helper now interestingly this
word is used twice to describe Eve three
times to describe a military ally and
sixteen times to describe God
specifically meaning that according to
the Bible women were not created as
secondary to men not some help fate
which is traditionally believed someone
who’s subordinate to man but rather a
true ally in the full military sense of
the word and after all that I have
researched and all that I have read on
the side
I have come to the conclusion the age
gender race sexual orientation none of
these things are a factor and who can be
used by God or in what capacity so if
our traditions and her treatment of
women is anything less than respectful
and dignified I humbly suggest that
we’ve gotten it wrong I challenge my
fellow believers to seriously consider
this and evaluate it in their own lives
because it is very dangerous to use
scripture to justify the mistreatment of
another person this thinking has very
real and very dangerous repercussions
that extend far beyond the walls of the
church into literally every level of
society still today sexism and violence
against women is rampant in our culture
in our world
domestic violence claims one in five
lives every day rape culture has
transformed parking garages social
gathering spaces and college campuses
into war zones where one in three women
will be sexually assaulted at some point
in her lifetime and when the worst case
scenario does happen we blame the victim
we ask what was she wearing
what did she drink why was she there and
we let up the perpetrator because we’re
worried about what the consequences of
in the workplace there are very real
glass ceilings that turn boardrooms into
boys clubs and even today women still
earn less pay for equal work even if
they outperform their male peers and
this does not mean that men are equally
hard-working at their jobs it’s just a
fact that we praise boys for their
bravery their strength and their
intelligence while we applaud girls for
their beauty or sex appeal conditioning
very early on what we expect out of
women and what we think women are good
for and while we’re on the topic we need
to teach our children to own their own
body it belongs to them we need to teach
them to have confidence and to rock what
they got but we also need to teach them
about the importance of consent because
sexual objectification and sexual
violence are real and terrifying things
for women of color or transgendered
women the rates are even higher and for
Aboriginal women all across the country
they’re going missing and murdered at an
alarming rate both here and in other
colonized nations around the world and
we cannot tolerate it because every day
I witness the devastation of people of
women being treated as less than human
as commodities that can be bought or
sold for profit or pleasure with human
trafficking being the fastest-growing
crime on the planet and the average
entry age into prostitution being 11 to
is not a choice this is a crime because
virginity test and child marriage are
still a thing because the three
deadliest words on the planet are it’s a
girl with many girl babies being denied
the right to live simply on the fact
that they are born female because boys
bring value and girls bring burden in my
eyes this is why we still need feminism
I honestly wish we didn’t I wish we were
past that power just not there yet but
the good news is that we all hold within
ourselves
the power to change the system we can
demand better with what we choose to say
and do on a regular basis every day we
vote for the kind of world we want
through our actions our words and our
purchases when I hear humor about a
woman’s place or that makes light of the
and when it comes to entertainment
sexism is widespread I mean we are
capable of being more than just eye
candy more than just a love interest in
a movie or a song women carry
interesting inspiring challenging
stories just like men but the bottom
line is that in a just society we need
to hear all voices and all perspectives
represented so let’s get some diversity
rising up huh if you want to make a
difference in your world or make your
community or country a better place then
don’t wait for somebody to give you
permission get the job done
run for office take up journalism defend
the oppressed create new possibilities
and new job markets to break the cycle
of poverty for yourself or for others
personally I want to see a national
action plan to prevent sexual violence
on college campuses I would love to see
a media ranking system that highlights
gender bias and film because what we see
represented in mainstream culture
affects how we think and act on a
regular basis and we need to change how
we think about women so we can change
how we treat them we’re getting there
but we’re not quite there yet this is
why I stand for justice inequality this
is why Jesus made a feminist out of me
but furthermore beyond the teachings of
faith or feminism all that aside this
this is just good basic human decency
that we treat one another with respect
and we live our lives in a way that
proves the women matter equally to men
and men matter equally to women so here
is my challenge for us all let us shine
a light into the sexist oppressive
shadows of our society let us confront
what’s wrong in the world and multiply
what is right when we see something that
is degrading or dehumanizing to another
person be brave enough to call it out
whether that be a sexist joke a sexist
action or a sexually violent behavior
I asked you to take the leap because we all deserve better
with many popularly held beliefs of
faith and justice my heart beats for
justice and equality for the value and
dignity of all people regardless of
nationality age gender sexual
orientation or religious belief and it
is because of this conviction that I
choose to identify myself as a feminist
unapologetically I didn’t always
associate myself with feminism and a lot
of people asked me why don’t I just call
myself a humanist and although I will
always stand for all people I choose to
say feminist in the same way that we
choose to say black lives matter because
there are some people within our society
that face disproportionate rates of
oppression and so we choose to use our
influence to stand with them to make
things better now for me this isn’t a
political statement
although sometimes it pushes me into the
realm of politics or directs the
lifestyle choices that I make on a daily
basis and just to be clear being a
feminist does not mean that I wish to
push down or talk poorly of men in fact
it is just the opposite I work for the
Equality and the unity of all people on
the very basis of their human dignity
nothing more nothing less
now people come to an understanding and
a self-identification of feminism
through many different journeys and all
different belief systems for me it was
Jesus that made me a feminist
and I understand that this might be
surprising to some so please let me
explain from a very young age I was
raised in a home that seeks to follow
Jesus but in my adolescence I was very
deeply hurt by local leaders within our
local church and this experience which
hit very close to home set me on a
course of evaluating what I truly
believed and why I researched many
different religions and many different
philosophies but in the end I found
myself right back where I began with
Jesus but this time I was encountering a
side of Jesus that I had never seen
before and I was absolutely fascinated
with what I found I found that there are
many things within his life that were
extremely culturally relevant today
being born to an uneducated adolescent
mother of a racially oppressed people
group throughout his life he
consistently empowered and uplifted the
voices of women at times even taking
personal Direction under the leadership
of women which was completely
countercultural for a man to do at the
time he educated women alongside and as
equals to men placing them in positions
of leadership within his work
interestingly in one historical document
it is actually a woman who first
identifies Jesus as Messiah and after
Jesus is crucified it is two women whom
he reveals himself first and asked them
to spread the good news of his
resurrection
but his radical nature didn’t end then
it wasn’t directed solely towards the
liberation of women but for all people
he fed the hungry healed the sick valued
those with disabilities and he condemned
a materialistic nature that worships
money and wealth in
I often wonder in light of the current
refugee crisis what would Jesus say or
would he side with a specific political
party questions that I asked myself what
I do know is that he consistently
offended the value of those who are most
vulnerable in our societies the widow
the orphan the immigrant the refugee
among us making clear the justice and
right living was at the core of his
message and he had no problem calling
out the religious hypocrisy of the day
this hierarchy that would pick and
choose who was worthy and who was not
instead everyone was given a seat at the
table everyone has value everyone had a
place to belong I came to the conclusion
that Jesus is for justice of all people
and was actually one of the originators
of the women’s liberation movement and
while the early church lived this out so
beautifully the next 2,000 years of
church tradition unfortunately did not
follow and I honestly don’t know where
in history this shift took place but
even today there are some churches and
some individuals that are phenomenal at
lifting up women’s voices and putting
women in positions of leadership and
there are that some that are just not
there yet and as a woman with roots in
the church it is this tension that I’ve
personally struggled with for many years
on many occasions I have been overlooked
disregarded or
completely excluded on the very basis
that I am a woman and according to some
not to be included among the ranks of my
male peers on one occasion I’ll always
remember my dad who was also speaker was
asked if he had a problem with me being
invited to speak at big arenas as a
woman when he was not and if I’m honest
it breaks my heart a little bit every
time I see a woman held back from
pursuing the dreams that God has placed
on her heart
I can’t believe in a faith that treats
me as a second-class citizen placing
limitations of stained glass ceilings
upon half of humanity holding us back
based on gender it doesn’t make sense
with what I know of Jesus and so again I
took a leap I dove into the history of
the Scriptures hoping that I would find
what I believe in my heart to be true
the Equality of all people if we go back
to the beginning and we look at the
history of the scriptures we look at
Genesis 2:8 right in the very beginning
when God creates Eve from Adam we see
that the word used there is as air
cuñado
meaning helper now interestingly this
word is used twice to describe Eve three
times to describe a military ally and
sixteen times to describe God
specifically meaning that according to
the Bible women were not created as
secondary to men not some help fate
which is traditionally believed someone
who’s subordinate to man but rather a
true ally in the full military sense of
the word and after all that I have
researched and all that I have read on
the side
I have come to the conclusion the age
gender race sexual orientation none of
these things are a factor and who can be
used by God or in what capacity so if
our traditions and her treatment of
women is anything less than respectful
and dignified I humbly suggest that
we’ve gotten it wrong I challenge my
fellow believers to seriously consider
this and evaluate it in their own lives
because it is very dangerous to use
scripture to justify the mistreatment of
another person this thinking has very
real and very dangerous repercussions
that extend far beyond the walls of the
church into literally every level of
society still today sexism and violence
against women is rampant in our culture
in our world
domestic violence claims one in five
lives every day rape culture has
transformed parking garages social
gathering spaces and college campuses
into war zones where one in three women
will be sexually assaulted at some point
in her lifetime and when the worst case
scenario does happen we blame the victim
we ask what was she wearing
what did she drink why was she there and
we let up the perpetrator because we’re
worried about what the consequences of
in the workplace there are very real
glass ceilings that turn boardrooms into
boys clubs and even today women still
earn less pay for equal work even if
they outperform their male peers and
this does not mean that men are equally
hard-working at their jobs it’s just a
fact that we praise boys for their
bravery their strength and their
intelligence while we applaud girls for
their beauty or sex appeal conditioning
very early on what we expect out of
women and what we think women are good
for and while we’re on the topic we need
to teach our children to own their own
body it belongs to them we need to teach
them to have confidence and to rock what
they got but we also need to teach them
about the importance of consent because
sexual objectification and sexual
violence are real and terrifying things
for women of color or transgendered
women the rates are even higher and for
Aboriginal women all across the country
they’re going missing and murdered at an
alarming rate both here and in other
colonized nations around the world and
we cannot tolerate it because every day
I witness the devastation of people of
women being treated as less than human
as commodities that can be bought or
sold for profit or pleasure with human
trafficking being the fastest-growing
crime on the planet and the average
entry age into prostitution being 11 to
is not a choice this is a crime because
virginity test and child marriage are
still a thing because the three
deadliest words on the planet are it’s a
girl with many girl babies being denied
the right to live simply on the fact
that they are born female because boys
bring value and girls bring burden in my
eyes this is why we still need feminism
I honestly wish we didn’t I wish we were
past that power just not there yet but
the good news is that we all hold within
ourselves
the power to change the system we can
demand better with what we choose to say
and do on a regular basis every day we
vote for the kind of world we want
through our actions our words and our
purchases when I hear humor about a
woman’s place or that makes light of the
and when it comes to entertainment
sexism is widespread I mean we are
capable of being more than just eye
candy more than just a love interest in
a movie or a song women carry
interesting inspiring challenging
stories just like men but the bottom
line is that in a just society we need
to hear all voices and all perspectives
represented so let’s get some diversity
rising up huh if you want to make a
difference in your world or make your
community or country a better place then
don’t wait for somebody to give you
permission get the job done
run for office take up journalism defend
the oppressed create new possibilities
and new job markets to break the cycle
of poverty for yourself or for others
personally I want to see a national
action plan to prevent sexual violence
on college campuses I would love to see
a media ranking system that highlights
gender bias and film because what we see
represented in mainstream culture
affects how we think and act on a
regular basis and we need to change how
we think about women so we can change
how we treat them we’re getting there
but we’re not quite there yet this is
why I stand for justice inequality this
is why Jesus made a feminist out of me
but furthermore beyond the teachings of
faith or feminism all that aside this
this is just good basic human decency
that we treat one another with respect
and we live our lives in a way that
proves the women matter equally to men
and men matter equally to women so here
is my challenge for us all let us shine
a light into the sexist oppressive
shadows of our society let us confront
what’s wrong in the world and multiply
what is right when we see something that
is degrading or dehumanizing to another
person be brave enough to call it out
whether that be a sexist joke a sexist
action or a sexually violent behavior
I asked you to take the leap because we all deserve better
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